Bloodville Series 2: The Prayer
by shadowglove
Summary: Sq to The Vampire & Ghost. Henry despises magic, so its hard for him to accept that Chloe uses it daily, but after helping her on a job dealing with a death prayer, the vampire realizes that its time to let old prejudices die, and to hold onto the future


**Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville/Blood Ties.**

Sequel to "The Vampire And The Ghost".

Written for my Paranormal25 150 Prompt Table. Prompt # 76: Death Prayer.

* * *

"I'm going to _sue_!"

Henry looked up from where he'd been in the middle of brainstorming for his work, at the graphic novel slammed down in front of him.

The title read _**Blood Bride**_ and it featured a beautiful, sexy blonde with shoulder-length hair on the front. She had a wrist computer on one wrist, and a Grimoire in the other, showing how she was mixing magic with technology.

Henry looked up from the graphic novel to the furious blonde glaring at him. "Why?"

His question seemed to shock her as she lost a little of her fight, sighing as she sat down next to him. "I know that as a vampire you don't realize a couple of things, Henry, but I don't appreciate having my life, and face, in a cartoon _anyone_ can pick up and read."

"_Graphic novel_." He corrected once more, flipping through the first book in his newest series, the inspiration for his works sitting next to him, sulking. "Why not? You have a very impressive life. You use your abilities and knowledge to help those around you. If your cousin can be believed, you've helped avoid Apocalypses…by the way---how did Lois like her character?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "She loved it. Especially how you made her _younger_ than she really is."

Lois Lane was a little touchy on how she was forty six, and looked her age, while her cousin was forty four and looked nineteen.

"Oh, is it already selling?" A voice caused them to look up in time to see Rudy, Henry's ghostly housemate, floating towards them. "Can I see it?"

"You knew about this _too_?!?" Chloe cried out in outrage as Henry handed the ghost the graphic novel.

"Of course I did. Who do you think helped him keep you in character?" Rudy wanted to know, sitting down on pure air, crossing his legs and flipping through the book in amazement. "It looks great finished like this. Good work, Fitzroy…though next time maybe you should give her clothes that _don't_ make her look like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider?"

"I thought she looked lovely like that." Henry debated. "And young males read these want some skin shots."

"Show them _Lois'_ skin, not _mine_." Chloe grumbled. "Fitzroy, I'm suing you. You—you _can't_ do this to me!"

"Why?" Rudy asked the question Henry had moments ago. "You're really cool in this, I edited a lot myself to make sure."

Henry snorted at the ghost, who always seemed to want to get Chloe's approval.

The vampire kinda had the suspicion that the ghost had a crush on the meta.

Chloe looked between the two males in speechless horror. "Does _no one_ in this room understand the concept of _privacy_?" She turned to Henry, eyes narrowed. "Tell me this, Fitzroy. If _I_ were a writer, and I suddenly did this to _you_ and exposed _your_ secret to the whole world, how would _you_ feel? Even _if_ I used a different name and pretended it was _fiction_?"

Henry frowned, not having thought of that before. "I'm sorry."

Chloe sighed and reached over. "That's okay…just…_prepare_ me next time." She looked up at the ceiling. "I was never more confused than when a couple of pimple-faced teens got to their knees in front of me this morning and asked me to show them the "Valhalla Warcry"." She turned to Henry. "Really? _Valhalla Warcry_? You couldn't come up with a better sounding name?"

Rudy snickered from where he was nose-deep in the graphic novel.

Henry smiled in amusement, clasping his hands over his chest as he leaned back on the sofa. "What's wrong with the title? Your character is a Valkyrie hybrid, who blends magic and technology in her quest to rid the world of evil and protect the human race she love. Valhalla Warcry just _sounded_ right."

The blonde sent a look in Rudy's direction before returning her attention to Henry. "I noticed I have a pet ghost, and a vivacious cousin who is newly married to my 'not that bright' ex boyfriend."

"He chose someone else over you." Henry smiled charmingly. "I say that speaks a lot about his level of intelligence."

Chloe couldn't help but smile.

He loved it when he forced her to smile or laugh when she was supposed to be angry at him.

"When is my completely ego-centric and annoying yet lovable vampiric best friend going to show up in this series?" Chloe surprised him by asking.

Henry leaned towards her, smile morphing into an expression of intrigue. "You want me to add _myself_?"

"If you're going to impose on the privacy of everyone else I think its only fair." She replied cheekily, standing and stretching. "Well, now that I've said all I had to say, I'm off."

Henry frowned. "So soon?"

"You just got here." Rudy agreed, finally looking up from **Blood Bride**. "C'mon…stay…Henry will cook something for you."

The vampire ignored the way the ghost always seemed to offer him up to do anything to keep the blonde around. "Stay a little longer."

Chloe smirked at then both. "Unlike the two of you, I actually have a job that requires me to go outside."

Henry frowned darker, standing. "You have another job? So soon? You haven't healed completely yet from the last one."

"You _liar_." Chloe laughed, not taking his (or Rudy's) worried expressions seriously at all. "You know I heal up faster than physically possible. I was completely healed before I even made it over here, so stop being such a drama king."

"You were nearly torn to _pieces_." Henry hissed, eyes bleeding black at the memory.

"And then I healed." She replied. "And I'm fine now."

"What do you have to do tonight?" Rudy asked, closing **Blood Bride** for right now, giving the blonde his full attention.

Chloe' gaze went to the watch that was _not_ on her wrist. "Is that the time? I got to go!" She turned to leave.

Henry's eyes narrowed as he stood, and in seconds he was standing in front of her, blocking her way.

Chloe pouted at him. "I hate it when you do that."

Henry gave her a near-pleasant smile, though they both knew that he was dangerously annoyed at this moment. "What's the hurry, Chloe? Surely you can't be doing something that you can't tell _your completely ego-centric and annoying, yet lovable vampiric best friend_ about."

"Of course not." Chloe denied, yet she wasn't looking at him and she still had yet to answer his question.

"_Chloe_…" His voice was suddenly like a millions voices in one, his eyes bleeding black…his features turning sharper as his demon appeared in his annoyance.

Chloe glared at him. "It's my _job_ Henry. You can't keep me from my job!"

"Why would I keep you from your job unless you're doing something that I _know_ is idiotic and will end up killing you?" Henry countered, not backing down.

"Might as well spill, Chlo." Rudy floated over them on his stomach, looking down at the blonde. "Henry will just keep you here if you don't."

"Since when did you suddenly start always being on _his_ side?" Chloe pouted at the ghost.

"Hey----_you're_ the one who told us to stop bickering like an 'old married couple'." Rudy sniffed.

Chloe pouted darker, remembering that. "Since when did you start _listening_ to me?"

"Chloe, stop stalling." Henry knew her too well.

The blonde suddenly sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "My newest client thinks that her mother was killed by a death prayer, and now that I've been investigating, I think she's right. And I think I know who did the praying. So I'm going to go and---."

Henry gave her a little, unpleasant growl.

He knew that Chloe's work was dangerous.

She'd always attracted the supernatural or the odd, even before she'd realized that she was a meta or her agelessness had been triggered…so she'd started making it a _job_. She was very much like Vicki in that way, working with the supernatural, and with magic, to help the innocent and oppressed.

Henry hated it.

He hated magic with all his being, having seen the evil that the occult did to others, and having had it used against him on more than one opportunity. But that was how Chloe worked, and she wasn't changing for him, no matter _how_ much he tried to use his allures against her.

She was yet another bullheaded woman in his life on which his vampiric charms didn't quite work.

He kept coming up against them…

…and it _never_ ended up well.

His mind kept screaming on him to stay away, that someone always got hurt…but Henry just couldn't.

Chloe was…it was as if _she_ were the vampire and _he_ was the victim of _her_ magnetism and allure, unable to dredge up the desire to get away while he could.

"I'm coming." He sighed, knowing that he couldn't let her do this by herself anyone.

Not after her near death last time.

"I don't need---!" Chloe gasped.

Henry narrowed black eyes at her, still in his demonic visage.

The blonde sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to back down. "Okay. Okay. But only this once so you can see that I'm _okay_ and able to work."

The vampire nodded.

"I'll probably end up doing magic." She warned him bluntly. "So if you really plan on coming, be ready for it."

He didn't answer, just grabbed his coat and followed her out.

* * *

"What's the plan?" Henry asked as Chloe's client spasmed on the ground, body jerking in unnatural ways, gasping for air.

They could hear the sound of the prayer on the wind, the dark petitioner praying for the death of the last member of the family of the man who'd killed his brother.

"Don't _do_ this, Gregory!" Chloe called from where they were hiding behind a crate in her client's shipping agency. "Don't finish that prayer!"

The prayer continued.

"I don't want to hurt you!" Chloe tried once more, sending a desperate look at her client, knowing the innocent young woman didn't have much time left. "Don't finish that sentence!"

The sentence in the ancient prayer was finished.

"_Dammit_!" She turned to Henry. "Stay here with her!" With that Chloe got up and narrowed her eyes, walking out from behind the crate towards where the young man holding the idol of an ancient, forgotten god of death stood.

The man didn't stop with his prayer, eyes narrowed on her.

Chloe, hands to her sides, palms outwards, began to chant words in a language Henry couldn't recognize.

Henry winced at the reminder that Chloe, for all her lightness and sunshine, dabbled in some seriously dark things that due to his beliefs and past experiences, he would normally shun as evil.

The man faltered in shock at the words coming out of her mouth, before starting all over again, more desperately this time.

Suddenly a cloaked figure appeared between Chloe and Gregory. The face was somewhat humanoid but it was devoid of feeling or humanity, the scent of death and decay reaching Henry, and it was all the vampire could do to just obey Chloe and stay there with the client instead of going to the blonde and escaping to safety.

The cloaked figure spoke in the language of the prayer.

Gregory, who apparently only knew the prayer, looked up with wide eyes.

Chloe's face was cold as she answered, pointing to Gregory and the idol in his hands.

The cloaked figure nodded and turned to the human, going to him…enshrouding him in his cloak, and there was only screams as they both disappeared, along with the summoning idol.

The power over the client was severed, causing her to sit up and take in gasps of air.

Chloe hadn't moved.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked the client, not really caring but out of courtesy.

She nodded.

Getting up, Henry went to Chloe, grabbing her arm and flinging her around to him, eyes bleeding black, voice a millions mixed, features sharpening in his fury. "You offered it his _soul_!"

And then he got a good look at her face.

And it was agonized.

"He'd already promised him a soul." Chloe whispered, not really looking at him. "I told him---I told him not to finish the sentence---I told him I didn't want to hurt him! But he finished the sentence! That god came for the soul promised him and _whose_ else could I give him?!?"

She was crying.

Heart aching at the agony as her whole body trembled, Henry's features softened, his fangs disappeared, and his eyes returned to normal as the vampire pulled her to him and enveloped her in his arms as she held onto him and cried.

The vampire closed his eyes tightly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You did what you had to do, Chloe."

"I know." She whispered.

And now he knew too.

He knew the burdens in her life…the burden he couldn't let her carry by herself anymore.

Even if he _detested_ magic and the occult, Henry couldn't let her do this by herself.

He _couldn't_.

Later on, after the client had gone back home, Chloe and Henry stood over where Gregory Elkins had been taken by the death god he'd been sacrificing the souls of the client's family.

Chloe stood, head bent, hands clasped in front of her.

Henry sent her a look before holding up the rosary he usually kept wrung around his wrist, beginning to cross himself with it as be brought it to his forehead, "In nomine Patris," his sternum "et Filii," the anterior side of his left shoulder, "et Spirit_ū_s" and then his right shoulder "Sancti." He then brought the rosary to his lips and gave it a reverent kiss. "Amen."

"Amen." Chloe echoed softly.

Henry sighed, sending her a look, before beginning the prayer she'd asked him to join her in. "Pater nostrer qui es in coelis."

"Our Father who art in heaven," Chloe echoed in English.

"Sanctificetur nomen tuum." Henry continued.

"Hallowed be Thy name…" Chloe whispered.

And sometime, during the prayer, their hands joined, and while Henry repeated the prayer in Latin as he had originally learnt it, Chloe repeating it in English, the vampire couldn't help but feel that just as they were blending their prayers…something else in them was blending and becoming one.

He squeezed her hand softly.

She squeezed back, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Henry smiled. "_Amen_."

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